The invention relates to fish tanks and aquariums and more specifically to an ultraviolet sterilizer assembly to be used to sanitize their water.
The use of ultraviolet lamps to sterilize water in fish tanks and aquariums is not new. Existing systems are extremely inefficient and only have a 35 to 60 percent kill rate of harmful micro organisms on the initial pass through the sterilizing chamber. These units normally have the ultraviolet lamp in direct contact with the water. Some of these units do not direct the flow of water through the sterilizing chamber so that it always travels at least the length of the ultraviolet lamp. Sometimes the flow of water passes the ultraviolet lamp as far as two inches or more away from the lamp itself which seems to explain some of the low kill rate in existing ultraviolet lamp sterilizer units.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel ultraviolet sterilizer assembly for use in fish tanks that has a kill rate of over 98 percent of the harmful organisms on the initial pass through the chamber.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel ultraviolet sterilizer assembly that eliminates single-cell algae to provide for crystal-clear aquariums.
It is another object of the aquarium to provide a novel ultraviolet sterilizer assembly that will have maximum efficiency in reducing the risk of disease outbreak in aquariums.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel ultraviolet sterilizer assembly that may be quickly and easily installed on the wall of a fish tank.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel ultraviolet sterilizer assembly that has structure which allows the ultraviolet lamp to be changed without the necessity of disconnecting the water hoses leading to and from the unit.